Déjà Vu All Over Again: Everton linked with another Arsenal striker

Arsenal has four strikers on their first team roster. Everton has been linked with three of them. The latest is outcast Lucas Perez, a player that Arsene Wenger bought but apparently doesn’t like, which is confusing because the Spaniard actually played well when given the opportunity last term.

Perez joins Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck as players Everton have been gunning for this transfer season, and is actually a pretty good player. He had 17 goals and 8 assists (off 1.7 open play key passes per 90) his last season in Spain:

In 136 Champions League minutes last season, Perez produced 3 goals and 2 assists, and bagged a Premier League goal even though Wenger spread his 265 league minutes across ten appearances (one start).

Being originally from A Coruna, the player probably wants to go home and return to Deportivo, but if he doesn’t, he’s good enough to start for Everton as it is currently made up.

However, if you are in the camp of “Everton needs a target man” to pair with their world class free kick taker and new record signing, Perez is not a good tactical fit. He’s a very good striker in open play, but he’s simply not physically imposing enough to be the answer in the air.

If the plan was to have someone like Perez, the Blues already have a younger version with more upside in Sandro Ramirez, and my recommendation would be to simply start Sandro at the 9 and find a backup quality target man to supplement the position.

I think the better idea is to go ahead and pay up for a player like Giroud or Christian Benteke, play Sandro as a winger, and get the best out of all of Ronald Koeman’s new signings.